Prisoners to get precious swine flu shots before you

Credit: Gustavo Leon (Illustration)

State public health officials have decided that thousands of state inmates will get swine flu vaccinations weeks before most citizens — who foot the bill for prisons.

Thousands of state inmates will get coveted swine-flu vaccinations weeks before law-abiding Bay Staters - who foot the bill for prisons - have a shot at protecting themselves, state public health officials have decided.

The prison pampering has one lawmaker questioning the con-voluted flu preparation.

“I can think of a number of populations that are more needy and vulnerable than prisoners,” said state Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), who co-chairs the legislative committee on public health.

Montigny said all the shots - or mist, depending on the product - should “get out on the street immediately.”

Jail officials warn their population - especially those in high-risk groups from the AIDS-infected to aging prisoners - could spread the flu at a frightful pace if they are not inoculated.

“It’s a perfect breeding ground,” said Middlesex Sheriff James V. DiPaola, who quelled riots at a Cambridge jail in July after rumors about swine flu cases spread among prisoners.

All county jails and prisons have asked for the vaccine, including the Department of Correction, which requested 21,000 doses to innoculate staff and inmates, health and prison officials said.

Swine flu vaccines will be sent to correctional facilities in the second week of November to inoculate prison health-care workers and those at “high risk,” said state Department of Public Health spokeswoman Jennifer Manley.

Vaccinations for members of the public who do not fall into any risk category are set to start Nov. 27, Manley said. By then, DPH expects 1.5 million swine flu doses will have been shipped to the state.

Offenders who do not fall into any health risk category will be last in line for the voluntary vaccinations, Manley said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also issued swine flu guidelines specifically for correctional institutions, where outbreaks have sickened inmates in New York City, Idaho and California.

“It’s an opportunity to create chaos on the part of the inmate population,” said Berkshire Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano Jr., who is requesting 550 doses for staff and inmates.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson said orders for extra Tamiflu, Tylenol, alcohol prep pads and latex gloves have been placed. Staff are also preparing swine flu prevention lessons in three languages and ordering a swine flu video to air on closed circuit television.

Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, said staff and visitors risk bringing swine flu inside correctional facilities, where quarters are cramped for quarantines and security personnel levels could be decimated by an outbreak.

“We don’t want to be bringing this home to our kids, which is what happened with MRSA (staph infection),” said Kenneway, referring to a bacterial infection that is common in prisons.